Board of Directors Meeting - 29 March 2012 - Devon Partnership ...

Board of Directors Meeting, 29 March 2012Agenda Item 9Devon Partnership NHS Trust Board of Directors Meeting29 March 2012EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT1. Purpose1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the annual report of Equality and Diversity andHuman Rights (E and D and HR) with the evidence that the organisation is fulfilling its legalduty under the Equality Act 2010. The report is a public commitment of how DevonPartnership NHS Trust seeks to meet the duties placed upon it by the Equality Act 2010,the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the SexDiscrimination Act as amended by the Equality Act 2006. It also includes information onage, gender identity, religion and belief and sexual orientation, which are aimed atimproving employment, goods, facilities and services (these were in place prior to thelegislative provision of the Equality Act 2010).1.2 The NHS has now moved on to the Equality Delivery System (EDS) (see appendix 4). TheEDS does not replace legislative requirements for equality; rather it is designed asperformance and quality assurance mechanism for local NHS Boards and a means bywhich NHS organisations are helped to meet the requirements of their public sector Dutyunder the Equality Act (2010) and the NHS Act (2006).2. Context & Background2.1 The Equality Act 2010, which came into force on the 1 October 2010 supersedes andsimplifies existing equality and anti-discrimination legislation.2.1.1 Within the Act, public sector organisations such as Healthcare Trusts have specificduties, which need to be fulfilled. This is known as the public sector equality duty (PSD).2.2 The PSD consists of a general duty and a number of specific duties. These replace thethree old public sector duties for race, disability and gender. The general duty has threeaims and requires public sector organisations to have due regard to the need to:Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.Advance equality of opportunity between people from different groups.Foster good relations between people from different groups.2.3 The specific duties require public bodies to set specific, measurable equality objectivesand to publish information about their performance on equality, so that the public canhold them to account.3. Ethics3.1 Devon Partnership NHS Trust is a major employer and service provider of Mental HealthServices in Devon and Torbay. The needs and aspirations of its workforce and peoplewho use services will obviously vary according to individual circumstances, but the Trustrecognises that their preferences and choices about employment and service provision atthe Trust, must not be disadvantaged by race, disability, gender and gender identity, age,Page 65 of 156